On the evening of December 3, 2020, Wuhan Philharmonic Orchestra gave a concert circuit in WHU, themed on respect for heroes and Wuhan, the heroic city. This unique work was first played in QinTai music hall in Wuhan on August 15 this year to celebrate the winning of the anti-virus battle.
The opening of the concert
To warm up, the orchestra played the Firth Symphony, known as the background music of the television drama, The Passionate Years. Subsequently came the highlight of the performance – the original grand symphony, A Rebirth in Fire, which is divided into four movements: Outbreak, Start-up of the Rescue Teams, Hope, and The Final Success, mainly based on the belief that the whole nation would fight against the coronavirus side by side.
Close-up of bass players
On completion of the four chapters, two students were invited to share their feelings about the most impressive part. A boy from the School of Mathematics and Statistics mentioned that the first movement reminded him of doctor Li Wenliang and some other devoted doctors like him. He said, “Without them, we could not enjoy our safe and peaceful life as we are doing right now.” The other girl from the School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, who has been studying the violin for several years, said the parts of the string instruments in the third and fourth movements left a deep impression on her.
Finally, the orchestra gave an encore with the popular song, My Motherland and Me. When the concert came to an end, in the wave of applause, all the artists showed their appreciation to the audience, and the conductor gesticulated at the audience with the shape of a “heart”.
It is said that the creation of the piece involved the joint effort of Guan Xia, the vice president of the Chinese Musicians’ Association, Shao En, the director of the department of conduction in the China Conservatory of Music, and two young composers from the China National Symphony Orchestra.
Edited by Chen Jiaqi, Wei Yena, Zhang Yilin, Sylvia and Hu Sijia
Photo by Cao Haigang
